Fresh vegetables rapidly deteriorate particularly when the flesh of the vegetable is exposed, such as by peeling the skin or by cutting the vegetable. The appearance, flavor, texture, and crispness rapidly degrades; the vegetable becomes soft and loses its characteristic crispness. Once vegetables are cut, they typically loose luster; often the vegetables develop a whitish cast. Many cut vegetables, such as cut peppers, once stored in a sealed package, typically exude water which collects in the package.
Methods of preservation such as freezing substantially preserves flavor; however texture and crispness are affected. Furthermore, frozen foods need to be continually stored and require freezers for storage. Refrigeration helps to preserve crispness texture and flavor for a limited number of hours. Cooking, drying and dehydration radically alter the texture, flavor appearance and texture of a vegetable. Chemical preservatives typically leave a residual taste and/or do not maintain the characteristic appearance, texture, flavor or moisture of the fresh cut vegetable. Certain chemical preservatives such as sulfites have come under scrutiny as having negative health risks.
It would be desirable to have a method for preserving fresh vegetables, particularly cut vegetables, which preserves the appearance, texture, crispness, flavor and moisture and, yet does not require cooking, drying or freezing.